The inventive concept relates generally to flash memory devices. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to flash memory devices that drive different voltages onto a selected word line, and a neighboring non-selected word line amongst a plurality of non-selected word lines, and another non-neighboring, non-selected word line amongst the plurality of non-selected word lines, thereby preventing a decrease in cell current and distortion of cell threshold voltage otherwise occurring in the neighboring non-selected word line.
Flash memory is one type of non-volatile memory and may be broadly classified as NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory. As is conventionally understood, read and write operations are performed in NAND flash memory in page units. Further, NAND flash memory is configured with a structure in which memory cells are serially connected in a string. This structure, while offering many performance and fabrication advantages, also suffers from certain interference effects between adjacent or proximately located memory cells.